Spacer mesh mat base

ABSTRACT

A mat includes a base portion having a spacer mesh fabric. The mat includes a cover, an optional filler material and a base. The cover may be any type of fabric and/or carpet material and the filler may be a foam or other cushioning material. The spacer mesh base includes a plurality of sets of lands and grooves.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/216,974, filed on Mar. 17, 2014, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to mats for use in home environments andmore particularly to mats incorporating spacer mesh material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Spacer mesh is a knitted fabric material that may be used to separatelayers of a textile product. An example of a three dimensional spacermesh is shown in Chinese Utility Model CN203174270, herein incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically shows a mat in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2A shows a cross sectional view of a base portion of the mat ofFIG. 1, FIG. 2B shows a top plan view and FIG. 2C shows a bottom planview of the base of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is an isometric view of a mat in accordance with an embodiment,FIG. 3B is a detail view of a portion of the mat of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment illustrating a leaning issue as describedbelow; and,

FIG. 5A shows a bottom plan view of a lean-resistant embodiment, andFIG. 5B shows a cross sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 5A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

These and other aspects of various embodiments of the present invention,as well as the methods of operation and functions of the relatedelements of structure and the combination of parts and economies ofmanufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description and the appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures. In one embodiment of the invention, the structuralcomponents illustrated herein are drawn to scale. It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose ofillustration and description only and are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the invention. In addition, it should be appreciatedthat structural features shown or described in any one embodiment hereincan be used in other embodiments as well. As used in the specificationand in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” includeplural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

A mat in accordance with an embodiment is schematically illustrated inFIG. 1 and includes a cover 10, an optional filler material 12 and abase 14. The cover 10 may include any type of carpeting, includingwoven, needlefelt, tufted and knitted, and may have a pile. Materialsmay include polypropylene, polyamide, polyester, nylon, cotton, wool,acrylic and combinations thereof. The yarn may be draw textured and/orfully drawn yarn, according to the selected use for the final product.In an embodiment, the material may be a microfiber material which maybe, for example, a material including from 60-90% polyester by weightwith the remainder polyamide. In a selected embodiment, the material maybe 75%-85% polyester and 15 to 25% polyamide and in a specificembodiment, the material may be 80% polyester and 20% polyamide. Fillermaterials may include batting or padding, foam, memory foam, or othercushioning materials as known in the art. The filler material may befrom 1 cm to 5 cm thick, and in the memory foam embodiment, may includea viscoelastic open cell polyurethane having a density of between 2.6and 3 lbs/ft³ and in a specific embodiment, of approximately 2.8lbs/ft³.

Layers may be glued together, or, when suitable, flame-bonded. Incertain embodiments, stitching may be used to secure the layers, eitheralone or in combination with glue and/or flame-bonding.

The base 14 is a three-dimensional spacer mesh which is itself made upof a top surface 20, a plurality of bottom surfaces 22, and a core 24.In an embodiment, the core 24 comprises a single extruded polyestermonofilament composed that is knit together with the top 20 and bottomsurfaces 22, which may also be formed by knitting. As will beappreciated, in principle the core need not be formed from a singlefilament, but may, depending on the knitting process, include multiplesuch filaments. The bottom surfaces 22 are separated by channels 26forming a series of lands and grooves.

FIG. 2A shows the base 14 in greater detail, while FIG. 2B shows the top20 and FIG. 2C shows the bottom 22. Note that the “eyes” of the top andbottom fabric are of differing sizes in the illustrated embodiment. Theeye size may be selected in accordance with the specific desired endproduct.

The mat may include an optional border 26, around the outer edge of thebase. Typically, this border will be made from the same material as thecover and/or be a continuation/fold of the cover material. In analternate approach, the border may be an additional piece such as pipingor the like. The border may be glued or sewn as desired.

The polyester monofilament is sufficiently strong to act as a support,separating the top surface from the bottom surface, and maintaining anair gap therebetween. The monofilament is knitted in a less densepattern such that fluid may flow through gaps in the core layer. Inparticular, both air and water can freely flow though the core such thata mat having a base in accordance with an embodiment will tend to allowwater to flow out from the mat, discouraging it from becomingwaterlogged, and further, will tend to allow air to flow, encouragingdrying of a wet mat.

The characteristics of the monofilament fiber may be selected tooptimize different aspects, such as strength, resilience, durability,and/or cost. Typically, thicker monofilament will provide for greatersupporting force. The characteristics of the core act, in addition tothe fluid characteristics described above, to provide a selected amountof cushioning, providing a comfortable support to a person standing orwalking on the mat.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the core 24, and the monofilament whichcomprises it, is visible in the channels 26 between each adjacent pairof bottom surfaces 22.

In a particular embodiment, a yarn thickness of between 0.08 and 0.16 mmand more particularly between 0.10 and 0.14 mm. In a specificembodiment, the yarn thickness is 0.12 mm. In an embodiment, the bottomsurfaces 22 include a slip-reducing surface which may be, for example, alatex and/or styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) coating. For stronger, moreresilient embodiments, thicker yarns may be used, including 0.15 mm,0.16 mm, 0.18 mm, 0.25 mm, or 0.30 mm yarn.

The thickness of the three-dimensional layer 14 may be, for example,between about 4 mm and about 20 mm, though certain embodiments may makeuse of a thinner sandwich having a thickness between about 2 mm andabout 4 mm

The configuration of strips and grooves may be formed during theknitting process by selection of the parameters for the knitting. Inparticular, the skilled artisan understands that the yarn feeder isadjustable to control the yarn knit according to a particular designselection. Likewise, the size of the eyes, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2Bis adjustable by adjusting the knitting machine. As shown in FIG. 1, thestrips and grooves may simply alternate and have similar widths.Likewise, either the strips or the grooves may be relatively larger thanthe other. For example, the strips may be half the width of the groovesor twice the width of the grooves. As will be appreciated, other ratiosmay be selected.

In an embodiment, the base may be made in accordance with a methodincluding, obtaining selected yarns, warping the yarns to a pan head ofa knitting machine, knitting the yarns to obtain a knitted fabric, heatsetting the raw (griege) fabric at a temperature selected to obtain asize stable fabric, optionally dying the fabric, washing and drying, andfinally, heat setting the fabric again. In the stabilizing step, theselected heat may be, for example, in a range between about 180 C and200 C, and more particularly, about 190 C.

In a specific embodiment, the base fabric has a base fabric weight of450 g±30 g/m², a thickness of 6 mm±0.5 mm, a rib width of 6 mm±0.5 mm, astripe to space duty cycle of 33.3%/66.6%, a fully drawn top yarn of300D/96F, a monofilament diameter of 0.12 mm, and a bottom yarn similarto the top yarn. In an alternate embodiment, the base fabric is thinnerand has a base fabric weight of 230 g±10 g/m², a thickness of 3 mm, arib width of 3 mm, a stripe to space duty cycle of 50%/50%, a fullydrawn top yarn of 100D/48F, a monofilament diameter of 0.12 mm, and abottom yarn of 75D/48F. As will be appreciated, the top and bottom yarnsmay be selected to vary in accordance with the desired final fabricweight and stiffness.

In certain cases, it is possible that the strips of spacer mesh materialmay be susceptible to “leaning” when the mat is stepped on, as shown inFIG. 4. While this is not believed to be hazardous, it may feeldisconcerting or otherwise undesirable to a person stepping on a mat soconfigured. In this case, it may be useful to include a combination ofnarrow bottom surfaces 22 and wide bottom surfaces 30 to help offset theleaning phenomenon while providing sufficient channels/grooves 26 forfunneling water away. In this alternate embodiment the base profilealternates a pair of narrow strips with a wider strip, as shown in FIGS.5A and 5B. In this approach, the wide strips provide greater stabilityto help reduce “collapsing”, while the narrow strips provide channelsfor water to flow.

The skilled artisan will appreciate that configurations other than thatillustrated may be used, such as varying the number of strips and theirwidth and depth. It is also appreciated that the mixture of wide andnarrow strips can be irregular. Likewise, though the embodiment showninvolves several separated base segments, a channel may be used thatdoes not separate all regions of the base. For example, a single channelin an s-shape or a zig-zag shape could provide an appropriate flow pathfor water without separating the base into unconnected regions.

In each of the foregoing embodiments, a coating may be applied to thebottom surfaces to increase the coefficient of friction between thebottom surfaces and the floor in both dry and wet environments. Thiscoating may be applied by spraying or by other known methods.

The foregoing illustrated embodiments are provided to illustrate thestructural and functional principles of embodiments of the presentinvention and are not intended to be limiting. To the contrary, theprinciples of the present invention are intended to encompass any andall changes, alterations and/or substitutions within the spirit andscope of the following claims. Where approximate measurements areprovided, the skilled artisan will appreciate that typically variationsof approximately plus or minus 10% will, in general, provide similarfunctionality.

1-13. (canceled)
 14. A mat, comprising: a base including a top surfaceand a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces being separated atleast by a spacer mesh core layer and wherein the bottom surface andcore layer each include at least one channel, wherein the bottom surfaceincludes a plurality of ground-engaging surfaces and a plurality ofchannels between at least some adjacent ground-engaging surfaces, eachchannel extending from a first edge of the base layer to a second edgeof the base layer, and the core layer includes a plurality of channels,each channel of the core being aligned with a corresponding bottomsurface channel extending from the first edge of the base layer to thesecond edge of the base layer and wherein the spacer mesh core comprisesmonofilament yarn extending between the top and bottom surfaces of thebase.
 15. A mat as in claim 14, wherein the plurality of ground-engagingsurfaces and channels comprise a repeating pattern of ground-engagingsurfaces and channels.
 16. A mat as in claim 14, wherein themonofilament is knit together with the top and bottom surfaces of thecore.
 17. A mat as in claim 14, wherein the monofilament has a thicknessbetween about 0.10 mm and about 0.30 mm.
 18. A mat as in claim 14,wherein the monofilament has a thickness between about 0.10 mm and about0.14 mm.
 19. A mat as in claim 14, wherein the monofilament, top andbottom surfaces are heat set after being knit together to stabilize aseparation between the top and bottom surfaces.
 20. A mat as in claim14, further comprising a fabric cover layer, secured to the base.
 21. Amat as in claim 14, wherein the fabric cover layer is directly securedto the base.
 22. A mat as in claim 14, further comprising a cushioninglayer between the fabric cover layer and the base.
 23. A mat as in claim14, wherein the bottom surface further comprises a slip-resistantcoating.
 24. A mat as in claim 23, wherein the slip-resistant coatingcomprises a rubber material.
 25. A mat as in claim 23, wherein theslip-resistant coating comprises a material selected from the groupconsisting of: latex, rubber, SBR and combinations thereof.
 26. A mat asin claim 15, wherein the pattern of ground-engaging surfaces comprises afirst ground-engaging surface having a first width and a secondground-engaging surface having a second width, wider than the firstwidth, separated by a channel.
 27. A mat, comprising: a base including atop surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottom surfaces beingseparated at least by a spacer mesh core layer and wherein the bottomsurface and core layer each include at least one channel, wherein thebottom surface includes a plurality of ground-engaging surfaces and aplurality of channels between at least some adjacent ground-engagingsurfaces and said channels extending from a first edge of the base layerto a second edge of the base layer and into the core layer, and whereinthe spacer mesh core comprises monofilament yarn extending between thetop and bottom surfaces of the base.
 28. A mat, comprising: a baseincluding a top surface and a bottom surface, the top and bottomsurfaces being separated at least by a spacer mesh core layer andwherein the bottom surface and core layer each include at least onechannel, wherein the bottom surface includes a plurality ofground-engaging surfaces and a plurality of channels between at leastsome adjacent ground-engaging surfaces and said channels extending froma first edge of the base layer to a second edge of the base layer andinto the core layer, and wherein the spacer mesh core comprisesmonofilament yarn extending into the bottom surface of the base.